2017 Porsche 911 Carrera review: Still for the purists

A smooth set of turbos for a smooth set of wheels

May 3, 2016

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Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.

When I last left the Porsche 911 Carrera, it was the 991.1 version from 2013. It was a guards red cabriolet and severely underwhelming, especially when I picked up a buddy and belted two sets of golf clubs in the “back seats” for a Saturday round. It didn’t feel quick or even particularly sharp that day. The only saving grace was the visual comedy of the two scarf-wearing gentlemen in the front. THE car, one of my favorites, felt like copy of a copy of its former self.

Well, the 911 is back, baby, and I think we’re (I’m) going to stick with calling it “the small-t turbo.” Or maybe lil’ turbo. No ... small-t turbo. By now you’ve heard: the entire 911 lineup is turbocharged, and the Carrera and Carrera S use two of them with the company’s new 3.0-liter flat six. We first drove the 2017 911 back in November on the international launch, and our man J.P. Vettraino broke down all the bits and pieces. Today we’ll just quickly go over the big chunks.

Visually, the small t Carrera gets bigger front grilles, black longitudinal strakes on the spoiler (instead of body-color transverse ones) and redesigned dimensional taillights with standard LEDs all around. The daytime running lights now have the four-dot signature in both front and back, though personally I don’t think I’m on board. I’d rather see dim projectors or something else entirely. It is distinctive, though.

The 2017 911 gets daytime running lights with four light points.

Power and torque are way up. The base Carrera delivers 370 hp and 331 lb-ft, which is up 25 hp and 42 lb-ft over the 991.1 (the naming/generational numbers will have to be discussed at a later time; we’re on 991.2 now, FYI). The S model grows to 420 hp and 368 lb-ft, good for a 7:30 Nurburgring lap, which is just 2 seconds slower than the Ferrari 458 Italia, an amazing feat. A seven-speed manual is standard for both; a seven-speed PDK is optional and gives the best sprint times. With the dual-clutch box, the base Carrera gets to 60 mph in 4 seconds flat, the S gets there in 3.7.

PASM, Porsche’s Active Suspension Management system -- which is adaptable -- is now standard on all 911s. It lowers the body about a half-inch compared to the old Carrera. The S model drops down another half-inch. Oh, and the big change: The S model is now available with rear steering, which is cool, and cuts down on the turning radius, but I found it hard to differentiate, even on the twisty mountain roads. Did the car feel a little sharper? Sure, but were talking about the difference between a scalpel and an X-Acto knife. Bottom line, they’re both really frickin’ sharp.

Inside, the four-way sport seats with manual adjustment are the best option ($800). They have good lateral support both in the shoulders and hips and keep the driver's knees from flaring out too; later we tested the upgraded seats with all the power adjustments; they’re much less supportive in the knees. Stick to the basics.

WHAT IS IT?This is Type 991, Gen 2: the latest iteration of a car that made Porsche’s name part of the mainstream vernacular. The biggest news is its engine.The 2017 911 Carrera starts ...

What’s it like to drive?

Porsche does a great job with steering feel, especially the weight and progression. The 911.2 uses an electromechanical setup, like most cars these days, so the road feel is still muted. Doesn’t matter though. This car sticks so hard in the bends that it's easy to hug the center line at almost any speed. The ratio quickens up in the corners and I rarely had to take a hand off the wheel.

That’s what Porsche does best; it’s why the 911 is such a legend and it’s why it’ll beat cars around the track with more power: handling prowess. As the roads get more twisted and suicidal, the new 911 seems to get more aggressive. When overdriven, it understeers just a tad on corner entry. It only oversteered when stomping it out of a corner for pictures. You have to push to find that limit, though. In fairness, I only drove the coupe on public roads, so I didn’t try to send the rear end off to another zip code, but with the right (or wrong) technique, it could surely do that.

The new-generation dampers have a wider range than the last model, offering both more comfort and a sportier ride in their different settings, says Porsche. The coil springs and anti-roll bars have also been modified. In the comfort setting the 911 feels stiff, but not punishing. The sport setting noticeably firms things up, sending more of the road’s dips and bumps into the driver’s seat. Again though, it never banged over potholes or made me wince, though we were in California, not on the potholed, post-winter roads in Detroit. Pitch and roll were near zero. Porsche says the new rebound buffer springs help with that. Upgraded models also get a nose lift function that raises the front lip 2 inches, to get over stubborn speed bumps or out of crumbling parking lots.

The color is fittingly called Miami blue.

As big of a deal as the new small-t turbochargers are, they don’t announce themselves, either in sound or lag. You’ll only hear them clearly with the windows down and with walls on the side of the road. The new 3.0-liter flat six sounds a bit cleaner than the old 3.6. It’s a little less raspy perhaps, but with the same flat, tonal growl. At the low end, it doesn’t sound like its gobbling up mechanical parts like it used to either. It also makes nice, deep burbling sounds on lift off, and little pops between shifts.

Since max torque comes in early at 1,700 rpm, there’s basically no lag, and nothing to send you off course in a corner besides your own feet and hands. Gone are the days of the old big-T Turbo, where if you weren’t paying attention the spools would kick in, light the tires up and teach you the meaning of the word inertia.

The 911 is content to hang in third gear through almost any situation from 20 to 100 mph. I drove the mountain roads hard for more than 100 miles, and could have gone 100 more, barely touching the chrome seven-speed shifter. Thrust falls off just a tad after about 5,500-6,000 rpm.

Three brake options are out there for buyers of this 3,153-pound flat-engined German missile. Base cars get new, larger four-piston calipers and 13-inch front rotors. The S model comes with 13.8-inch discs and the optional carbon ceramics are a whopping 16.1 inches in front, 15.4 inches in the rear. Like we said, we only drove the 911 on public roads, but both the standard and S model brakes felt strong with just a few inches of pedal travel. If I was being greedy I’d ask for an inch less, but they were plenty strong to lock up the front tires on an uphill right hander when the radius decreased in mid turn. The new-gen Pirellis slid for a split second before they found more grip and sent me on my way.

The brakes, the steering, even the shifter feel weighty and robust; the only mechanical point that wasn’t near perfect was the clutch. It was a little easy to press and it caught a little too high for my taste. I like them heavy and low, however, you could tool around all day in traffic without fatiguing your left knee.

What is it? It’s Type 991 Gen 2 with a capital T. The 2017 Turbo and Turbo S carry Porsche’s new 911 lineup to its tippy top.August Achleitner, Porsche’s vice president for ...

Inside, all of the test cars had the new sport steering wheel, which has just one knob and is a touch smaller than the standard unit. It’s the best of bunch if you’re solely interested in driving, and looks cool with the visible rivets on the spokes. On upgraded cars the PASM drive mode selector juts out from the center at about 4 o’clock, with a dial for sport, sport plus and individual modes. A special button rests in the middle that turns all settings to max for 20 seconds at a time. It’s best used as a push-to-pass button, as it drops as many gears as possible then slingshots you down the road. Another press turns it off, thankfully. That sort of boost could get you into trouble, quickly.

The rest of the interior is mostly standard Porsche stuff. No real hard touch points or large panel gaps. The new central infotainment screen feels way nicer that last year’s with a flush piece of glass over the front and redundant buttons below. Apple CarPlay is now standard. The cup holders continue to annoyingly pop out of the passenger side dash, which is functional, but looks terrible and feels sort of cheap. There has to be a better solution.

The sport wheel with the rivets was our favorite.

Do I want it?

If you would have asked me a few years ago, I would have said no. But with the small t, I’m back in, almost all the way. I only say "almost" because there are so many good, rear-wheel-drive sports cars at the $100,000 price point. The Jag F-Type and Mercedes-AMG GTS come to mind. They’re both a little livelier and maybe a little more fun, if only because of their sloppiness. The 911 is the opposite. It’s a surgical knife, on a piece of tempered glass, in a spaceship. The 911 hugs corners; the GTS and F-Type use their power to pull the concrete straight.

It’s the purist’s choice, as it always has been, except for the last half generation. Forget the boost, forget the electro steering, forget the fancy adjustable suspension and just drive it. Even the air-cooled, naturally aspirated, bias-ply-loving nuts will agree, it’s the best non big-T turbo Porsche has ever produced.